22167. (Earth, Wind & Fire) Need of Love
22168. (Tame Impala) Tame Impala EP
22169. (Apparat Organ Quartet) Pólýfónía
22170. (Gorillaz) Laika Come Home
Read more »
Category Archives: C - LISTENING - Page 20
First-time listening for January, 2013
Posted by Phil Paine
on January 31, 2013
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Başar Dikici’ “Köprü”
Posted by Phil Paine
on January 26, 2013
No comments
There were lots of performances by Başar Dikici on YouTube, but I couldn’t find any biographical information about him, other than that he was born in Adana. He looks fairly young. Dikici’s instrument is the Ney, a very simple end-blown flute that has been in continuous use for four or five thousand years. A skilled player can cover three octaves with it. Similar instruments abound throughout Asia, but the Ney is particularly associated with Turkish classical music. But it’s at home in the many varieties of Turkish pop music, as well. Read more »
First-time listening for December, 2012
Posted by Phil Paine
on December 31, 2012
No comments
23139. (Jón Leifs) Hafis [Drift Ice], for Mixed Chorus & Orchestra, Op. 63
23140. (Jón Leifs) Song: “Máninn Líður” for Mezzo-Soprano & Orchestra, Op.14a
23141. (Jón Leifs) Song: “Vögguvísa” for Mezzo-Soprano & Orchestra, Op.14a
23142. (Jón Leifs) Guðrúnarkviða for Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, Baritone & Orchestra, Op.22 Read more »
Swervedriver: Mezcal Head
Posted by Phil Paine
on December 4, 2012
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I’ve long been fond of this 1993 album by Swervedriver, a potent alternative rock band from Oxford. I have the Canadian release on cassette tape, which has an additional song, “Never Lose That Feeling/Never Learn”, not available on the U.K. original. Swervedriver was an excellent band, absorbing influences at first from raw bands like Iggy and the Stooges, and slowly acquiring a denser “alternative” texture without losing any aggressiveness. Unlike Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, and other bands of that general zeitgeist, Swervedriver never found a satisfactory relationship with a record company, or a broad audience. But Mezcal Head stands up very well after twenty years. “Duel”, the only song to get a video and significant airplay, is by no means the only good track on the album. I prefer “Last Train To Satansville” and the jazz-like “Never Learn”. The vocals are more or less impossible to make out, and float over the thick instrumental sound like a ping pong ball on a tsunami, but that was par for the course at the time.
First-time listening for November, 2012
Posted by Phil Paine
on November 30, 2012
No comments
23094. (Hector Berlioz) Les nuits d’été [s. Kiri te Kanawa]
23095. (Hector Berlioz) Le mort de Cléopâtre, Scène lyrique [s. Norman]
23096. (Memphis Slim) Beer Drinkin’ Woman [Blues Collection #13]
23097. (George Frederick Händel) Faramondo, Opera in 3 Acts [d. Palmer; Fortunato, Baird] Read more »
Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante in B‑f
Posted by Phil Paine
on November 5, 2012
No comments
The sinfonia concertante is a form that sits a little uncomfortably between the symphony and the concerto. Instead of a solo instrument battling heroically with or against the orchestra, a concertante of various instruments (usually three or four) play solo parts in conversation against the backdrop of the orchestra. This definition has fuzzy edges, and many works might be classified as sinfonia concertante which are named something else. The term is usually associated with the late baroque period, and Haydn composed three of them. Among them is his Sinfonia Concertante in B‑flat, Hob. I/105, composed in 1792, which is a fine exemplar. Violin, cello, oboe and bassoon perform the “solo” roles in this one. The “conversation” seems like a pleasant one, as if the instruments were relaxing with brandy and cigars after a fine dinner. The viola’s voice, particularly, comes across as mellow, but never maudlin. In fact, I think the best time to listen to this would be precisely in those physical circumstances.
First-time listening for October, 2012
Posted by Phil Paine
on October 31, 2012
No comments
23046. (Ella Fitzgerald) Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Gershwin Songbook
23047. (Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays) As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls
23048. (Albert King & Otis Rush) Door to Door Read more »
Juno Reactor’s First Album
Posted by Phil Paine
on October 5, 2012
No comments
I’ve been fond of Juno Reactor’s eclectic electroni
ca since I first heard Beyond the Infinite in 1996. I’ve listened to most of their albums frequently, especially Bible of Dreams. But I pretty much forgot about their first release, Transmissions (1993). Revisiting it now, I see why. It has little of the input from world musical traditions that they became famous for. It now sounds pretty much like conventional trance poised somewhere between darkrave and goa trance. But in fact, it was a pioneering work from which these trends subsequently evolved. It still plays well, and doesn’t deserve to be entirely ignored, just because the group went on to develop a more sophisticated sound.
First-time listening for September, 2012
Posted by Phil Paine
on September 30, 2012
No comments
23000. (George Frederick Händel) Brockes Passion, Oratorio Hvw.48 [d. McGegan; Klietman,
. . . . . Gáti]
23001. (Weather Report) Weather Report
23002. (Ramsey Lewid Trio) The Best of the Ramsey Lewis Trio Read more »
First-time listening for August, 2012
Posted by Phil Paine
on August 31, 2012
No comments
22975. (Arthur Sullivan, mus. & W. S. Gilbert, text) The Mikado [D’Oyly Carte; Ayldon, Wright]
22976. (Purrkur Pillnikk) Ehgji En
22977. (Jo Basile) Vienesse Waltzes for Accordion
22978. (Sunna Gunnlaugs) The Dream Read more »